A Dancer's Ballad
by tphantomhive13
Summary: Inigo is the bastard Prince of Ylisse who lives in Regna Ferox. He is perfectly content with his life as a Dancer. He loves to perform with his Mother, Olivia, and he can tolerate Lon'Qu's fatherly overprotective instincts and quirks. But what happens when Gerome, a Ylisse Knight, gets dragged to Regna Ferox to watch the Dancers perform one night and he encounters Inigo? One thing
In the grand country of Ylisse, there is an elegant, two floored building that possessed an arena. This building was known as Regna Ferox, and it was owned by two great warriors Flavia and Basilio. The two made a wealthy lifestyle based off of tournaments in the arena and the talented male and female dancers that live in the building.

One of the many dancers, Olivia, was well-known in all of Ylisse for her graceful dances and how they give even hopeless soldiers the will to fight on. That's what earned her a place in the Shepards during the Plegian War and she danced for Chrom and his comrades. Olivia was one of the many reasons that Ylisse won the Plegian War; she restarted the flame of hope and increased its ferocity with every graceful jump and step after Emmeryn's death. When Chrom landed the final blow to Gangrel and ended the war with victory, a celebration was in order.

And with celebration comes liquor and several men and women going into a drunken was not as drunk as Chrom that night, but both parties had consumed enough alcohol to warm a bed together that night despite that Chrom was already married to Sumia during the war.

Olivia was the first to come to, and upon the horrifying discovery of her sin, had fled the scene before Chrom could wake up and realize what had transpired between them and took responsibility.

Olivia returned to Regna Ferox and no longer affiliated herself with the Shepards. She couldn't bare to look at Chrom again. She simply told Robin that the Shepard life was not for her, and she had repaid her debt to Emmeryn so she felt that she would only burden the militia. Olivia was forever grateful to the fact that Regna Ferox had an area of rooms specifically for couples and harlots to conduct business. Though it was heavily guarded and not used as often as the rest of the country thinks, the honorable Shepards didn't want to toil their reputation by being seen at a place of seduction.

Basilio, a father figure of sorts to Olivia, had noticed Olivia's strange behavior upon her return and confronted her. The poor pink-haired woman was a stuttering, blushing mess, but she managed to confess to Basilio what had happened. Olivia discovered she was one with child, and that Chrom was the father. Olivia was shy, but she wasn't naive. She knew what a bastard child's life would consist of and though Chrom was a good man and would never harm any child of his: Olivia wouldn't ruin his life with the knowledge of her pregnancy. Chrom was not her only concern, for every great man has a greater number of enemies. Should an enemy catch wind of her child's bloodline, Olivia would lose her life and more importantly, her child's. Basilio swore to the gods that no one outside of Regna Ferox's walls would find out about Olivia's child. With Olivia's consent, Basilio informed the other owner of Regna Ferox, Flavia.

Olivia could manage dancing for a couple of months, but once her pregnancy began to show, Basilio and Flavia forbade her to perform. She wasn't the only dancer in Regna Ferox, so her spot can be filled by the other dancers until she was fit to perform once again.

The second floor was to provide living quarters for the dancers and the guards who had nowhere else to go while the first floor was where business took place. Olivia was confined to the second floor with frequent visits from Flavia, Basilio, and a doctor monitoring her pregnancy. Other dancers had paid visits and soon all of Regna Feroz's members knew of Olivia's pregnancy. The father remained unknown and Olivia was grateful to Flavia's fierce protectiveness. The dark-skinned woman had almsot sliced the throats of the too curious and claimed that the father was not going to be involved in any way. In Regna Ferox, sensitive topics are always avoided and ignored. A place of festivity and sinful indulgence doesn't need the mood to be sombered by the grim, sensitive topics that every member holds. Secrets flourished behind Regna Ferox's walls with only the concerned parties and Basilio and Flavia knowing about them all due to their owner statuses.

Olivia was even guarded at all times; she was never seen without Lon'Qu following in her shadow. Lon'Qu was one of the best swordmen in Regna Ferox who took a position as a guard in between tournaments. Basilio trusted the man; otherwise, he wouldn't have appointed Lon'Qu as Olivia's guard.

During the final months of her pregnancy, Olivia had grown quite close with Lon'Qu. He was her only company and he managed to endure her emotional moments. Despite his insecurity around women and the need to keep his distance from them, he assisted Olivia with getting up and putting on her shoes. Sometimes he would sneak in some extra food to satify her cravings. With this closeness, the two fell in love and agreed to marry after Olivia's child was born.

On August 7th, Inigo was born. He inherited almost everything from Olivia: her grey eyes, pink hair, and light tan complexion. His right eye was the only thing that branded him a bastard child, for within the silver depths of his right eye was the prominent Brand of Ylissean royalty. Olivia fretted over Inigo's Branded eye because it was so easy to see. Lon'Qu was quick on his feet and covered the Branded eye whenever any of the other dancers visited Inigo. He gave the excuse that Inigo caught a small infection in his eye and that it would go away soon: anyone who asked to many questions would face Lon'Qu's protective wrath. Inigo's life was dancing, quite literally, as he grew up. He never knew anything beyond the walls of Regna Ferox: all he could do was dance for the spectators and smile for his Mother and Father. When he was old enough to understand, Olivia told Inigo about his real Father.

Inigo didn't really care about that bit of information. Lon'Qu was his Father by bond: blood didn't really mean anything without the proper bond. He was infuriated by Chrom and hated him, though. What kind of man doesn't visit his former comrade? Didn't the time Chrom spent with mother mean nothing to him? Inigo knew that his Mother and Chrom were drunk at the time, but if they were truly friends and comrades then Chrom should have visited. Over the years, that anger and hate subsided. Inigo didn't want the royal life, despite his Mother and Lon'Qu saying that it was okay if he chose to confront Chrom about his bloodline. He loved dancing, and Inigo didn't want his dancing to be taken away from him. Princes don't dance; hell, males don't dance. Regna Ferox protected Inigo's passion, and he was happy to be in Regna Ferox with his Mother and Lon'Qu. What's more to ask for? Inigo didn't need riches and he certainly didn't want the popularity: being on stage to perform in front of a small audience was hard enough with his shyness. Inigo didn't want his life to change at all; it was perfect the way it was.

But fate played him a cruel hand by turning his life upside down.


End file.
